Just another Day on the Farm

I was reading about Bison at the Globe and Mail this morning an that its a hot new up and coming meat, I once gave a hand to folks that had Bison and I got to tell you, they were not the nicest critters I have ever met, despite handling them as gentle as we could, and we used a ton of safety products, one of the young bulls smashed into a fence, and snapped the panels and climbed over the half broken down fence, he then proudly beat the heck right out of a truck.. it was awesome to watch and scary as Hell.

When I lived in NWT, there were many herds of wild wood Bison all over the area that we traveled and camped in, I had a very healthy respect for them as well, to be honest, they “appeared” more tame and easier going then the grassland Bison that had been raised in pasture.

I often wondered if it was a difference in sub-species or just that in NWT no matter what the pedigree, and or how nice the bison looks, if its a troublemaker, its hunted and removed.. where the ranchers were willing to put up with a great deal because of New genes, or a stunning head peice.

One of the comments in the article was the Bison could replace beef, I like Bison, when I lived out west or up north and could buy free Range or local hunted meat I bought it now an again, not so thrilled with the tiny factor farmed bison meat available locally but every now and again I get a bison sauage that is just devine.

However being a small farmer, I perfer as much as possable to raise all my own meat, I currently or have raised and will raise again in the near future, Lamb or Mutton, Goat, Turkeys, Duck, Chicken, Rabbit and Pork and have added in a to be family milk cow who is half beef herself and when breed to a beef bull will provide me with one new steer or heifer to go to freezer camp per year.

I can’t begin to think about the extra required work that would be needed to raise my own Bison.. NOT..

There is a reason that we as a culture has spent five thousand years selectively breeding to create traits in cattle/livestock so that we can successfully live with them.

When I ask and ordered my calf, I explained to my hay guy that I wanted as calm with a good temperment as I could get, I was so pleased to get a half Limosin calf, a old french breed that was breed for small farm raising, as thrice dual purpose breed.. milk, beef and oxen..

After spending a bit of time with this young calf, it was clear that she could do so much more, then just go to freezer camp, she could point in fact in improve the qaulity of our life on the farm if used to her full capacity.

Having said that, it left me currently without a larger meat animal to raise and send to freezer camp, so I decided to add Sue the new piggy to the mix, she will finish in six to eight months and along with the rest of the critters we raise will provide a good mix of different meats for our dinner plates.

As I watch my animals relaxed in the sun or shade of the trees while chewing cud, I am reminded that I do this so that I know how the livestock that I eat was raised, treated and that they had the life I feel they deserve..

I am very thankful to all those that have helped select the wonderful traits and helped create the breeds I share my farm with.. they are all old fashion dual purpose breeds that are happy in their lives..